See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/256658218

Evaluation of lightning voltages base on experimental results: propsal for

revision of IEC 60060-1 and IEC 61083-2

Article · October 2002

CITATION READS

1 1,257

5 authors, including:

Sonja Monica Berlijn Fernando Garnacho

Statnett Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
40 PUBLICATIONS   179 CITATIONS    50 PUBLICATIONS   313 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Ernst Gockenbach Peter Werle

Leibniz Universität Hannover Leibniz Universität Hannover
269 PUBLICATIONS   3,323 CITATIONS    116 PUBLICATIONS   472 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

power transformer condition evaluation View project

Overvoltages in GIS View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Sonja Monica Berlijn on 30 May 2014.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.


EVALUATION OF LIGHTNING IMPULSE VOLTAGES BASED ON
EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS.
PROPOSAL FOR THE REVISION OF IEC 60060-1 AND IEC 61083-2
Fernando Garnacho
Pascual Simón
Summary
The procedures for evaluation
of lightning impulse wave-
shapes in IEC 60060-1:1989
allow different interpretations
to be made of crucial wave
shape characteristics particu-
larly when there are
oscillations on the peak of the
impulse. In extreme cases these
differences can lead to
inconsistencies in insulation
dimensions with a consequent
difficulty in achieving proper
insulation co-ordination bet-
ween items of equipment.
An investigation, funded by the
European Community, was
conducted in the research
laboratories of KEMA, FFII-
LCOE, Schering Institute,
NGC and TU Graz during the
period 1997 to 1999. The
conclusions from this
investigation show that a
modification to the procedures
for evaluating lightning
impulse waveshape parameters
can improve the reproducibility
in tests on high voltage
equipment.
A proposal is made for an
amendment to the requirements
of IEC 60060-1:1989 and IEC
61083-2:1999 that would
remove the present ambiguities
Ernest Gockenbach
Klaus Hackemack
in the evaluation of lightning
impulse voltages.
1. Introduction
Tests with lightning impulse
voltages are specified in IEC
Publication 60071-1 1 to
demonstrate the response of
high voltage power system
apparatus to transient
overvoltages due to natural
lightning occurring under
normal operating conditions.
Definitions for lightning
impulse tests are given in IEC
Publication 60060-1:1989 2.
A standard lightning impulse is
described as a full impulse
having a front time T1 of 1.2 µs
and a time to half value of 50
µs. The value of the test voltage
for an impulse without
oscillations is its peak value Up.
The recommended procedure in
the standard 2 for the
determination of the peak value
of a standard lightning impulse
with an overshoot or an
oscillation on the peak is
ambiguous. The evaluation of
an impulse when the
application of a standard
lightning impulse results in a
non-standard waveform, as in
tests on transformers, is not
addressed in the standard.
ELECTRA PAPER
7-th of February 2002
Sonja Berlijn
Peter Werle
Considerable work has been
devoted during recent years to
solve the problems associated
with the evaluation of lightning
impulse parameters. This work
has been focussed mainly on
the definition of a mean curve,
but up to now no satisfactory
solution has been found 3.
The techniques now available
for the evaluation of digital
records of waveform make it
sensible to question whether the
existing impulse parameters
and their definitions 2 are the
most suitable ones to use with
digital recording and current
insulating materials.
Whilst mathematical algorithms
can be used to define various
mean curves, it was decided
that a new investigation of
evaluation procedures should
be done on the basis of the
physical processes involved in
dielectric breakdown. This
report describes the
experimental studies of the
European Project to establish
the physical basis for a revision
of the requirements in the
standards 2 4. It includes a
proposal for a new evaluation
procedure for lightning
impulses.
Page 1 of 6

2. Experimental
Studies
The aim of the project was to
study the effects of
superimposed oscillations on
U50 impulse breakdown
voltages in air, oil, paper-oil,
SF6 gas and XLPE dielectric
media. Oscillations up to 5
MHz and 20% amplitude were
superimposed on smooth 1.2/50
standard lightning impulses.
The test program shown in
Table I was divided into two
main groups. Group I deals
with the influence of the time
parameters T1 and T2. Group II
deals with the influences of the
duration of the frequency/-
overshoot, and the amplitude of
the frequency/overshoot on the
breakdown voltage.
Each laboratory developed its
own test generator and
measuring system. The test
arrangements comprising
generating circuit, test vessel,
measuring system and evalu-
ation software are described in
detail in 5. Using the general
schematic diagram of the test
circuit shown in Fig. 1, test
voltages up to 120 kV were
achieved for all dielectric
media. Tests on air gaps were
made with voltages up to 500
kV using a conventional
lightning impulse generator
modified by means of series
inductance.
Both measuring systems in
Fig. 1 shared the same digital
recorder with two channels, one
for each measuring system. The
difference between the two
waveshapes recorded on each
channel represents the impulse
ELECTRA PAPER
7-th of February 2002
Table -I. Test program
Determination of the U50- Breakdown
Parameter
Test Parameter to vary to keep
Group constant
Configuration Limits Fixed value
Polarity (+ and -) 0.5s  T1  2.0s T2 = 50s
I Homogeneous and
non-homogeneous 40s  T2  60s T1 = 1.2s
field
Polarity (+ and -) 0.2MHz  f  5MHz A = Ai
II Homogeneous and 0.2s  d  5.0s T1 = 1.2s
non-homogeneous Ai = 5%, 10%, 20% T2 = 50s
field
Note: f = oscillation frequency; d = overshoot duration;
A, Ai = oscillation or overshoot amplitude.
1 2
1 2
6
5 7
Control Recorder
7
5 6
4
3 3
Figure 1. Schematic test circuit used in the European project: 1- Generator of
smooth LI. 2- Measuring system of LI according IEC 60060-1. 3- Generator of
oscillating waves shapes. 4- Measuring system with an adequate bandwidth for
the oscillation measurements. 5- Trigger control and impulse analysis. 6- Digital
recorder. 7- Test vessel.
shape, with oscillation or to achieve sufficient accuracy
overshoot, applied to the test for superimposed high fre-
specimen. quency oscillations of 2 MHz
and 5 MHz. All laboratories
A special design of the used the same software as
measuring system for the described in 6.
oscillating generator was made
Page 2 of 6

3. Results of the
researches
3.1 Influence of the
superimposed oscillations
and overshoot
For all of the dielectrics tested
(air, oil, oil-paper, SF6, XLPE)
no difference was detected
between the influence of
overshoot and oscillation of
equivalent amplitude and
frequency (f=0.5/d).
The same test vessel and
specimen characteristics and
properties were used for all
tests carried out for each
dielectric medium and
electrode configuration with
impulses smooth and having
superimposed oscillations. The
50% breakdown voltage for
each dielectric medium and
electrode configuration using a
smooth 1.2/50 impulse was
taken as a reference value
Uref(50)= 1pu. The 50% break-
down voltage for impulses with
oscillations were evaluated
from the extreme value of the
impulse Ue(50) and from the
peak value of the mean curve
Upmc(50). The extreme value Ue
Ue(50)   = 3%
1,15
Ue(50)
1,10
1,05
1,00
0,95
Upmc(50)
0,90
0,85 Upmc(50)
0,80
0 1 2 3
Figure 2. Influence of the frequency of the oscillations on the
breakdown voltage for air in homogeneous field.
is the peak value of the
measured impulse when
superimposed noise is removed.
Values of these two relevant
parameters for a homogeneous
field in air are shown in Fig. 2
for two overvoltage levels ß1=
3% and ß2= 13% (of the
reference value). The results
show that for frequencies
higher than 2 MHz, Upmc(50) is
closer to the reference value 1
pu. For oscillation frequencies
between 0.3 MHz and 2 MHz
the reference value 1 pu lies
between Ue(50) and Upmc(50). For
frequencies lower than
0.3 MHz, Ue(50) is closer to the
reference value.
The overvoltage ß is defined as:
ß = Ue(50) - Upmc(50)
In general ß is not identical to
the amplitude of the oscillation
according to the definition in
IEC 60060-1:1989. It is only
when Upmc and Ue occur at the
same time that ß is identical to
the amplitude of the oscillation.
,  2 = 13%
Ue(50)
 Ue(50)
 Ue(50)(1)
 Upmc(50)(2)
Upmc(50)(1)
f(MHz)
ELECTRA PAPER
7-th of February 2002
3.2 Influence of time
parameters
The conclusion from the results
of tests in air, oil, SF6 and
XLPE is that the 50%
breakdown voltage does not
change significantly when the
impulse front time varies from
0.5 s to 2 s, and when the
time to half value varies from
40 µs to 60 µs. This suggests
that the tolerance for the front
time defined in [2] as 30%
could be increased to 50%.
Oscillations on the front of an
impulse were shown to have a
negligible influence on the
breakdown voltage. Therefore
with oscillations between 30%
and 90% of the extreme value
of the impulse (Ue), the front
(1) time was determined by using a
regression line of that part of
the recorded impulse between
the first crossing of 0.3Ue and
the last crossing of 0.9Ue.
4. Application of the
test voltage factor k
4.1 Test voltage according to
the present IEC 60060-1
Overshoots or oscillations in
the region of the peak of an
impulse, measured by means of
an approved measuring system
7, are tolerated provided their
single peak amplitude is less
than 5% of the extreme value
2. Depending on the
frequency of the oscillation or
the duration of the overshoot,
5
the test voltage of a standard
lightning impulse is the
extreme value if the frequency
Page 3 of 6

is less than 0.5 MHz, and it is
the peak value of the mean
curve for frequencies equal to
or higher than 0.5 MHz.
4.2 Test voltage according to
the new research
The conclusions from the
experimental work reported in
this paper lead to different
criteria for the evaluation of the
test voltage, based on a certain
frequency interval for the
superimposed oscillations as
introduced in 8. The results
show that the test voltage lies
between the extreme value of
the impulse Ue and the peak
value of the mean curve Upmc.
The actual value can be
evaluated by using a test
voltage factor k which varies
from 1 to 0 according to
whether the oscillations are of
lower or higher frequency.
The 50% breakdown voltage
can be calculated using the test
voltage factor k from:
Uref(50)= Upmc(50) + k . ß (2)
where ß = Ue(50) - Upmc(50)
Note: this formula has been shown to
apply for values of ß  20% of Uref(50).
The reasoning applied to the
50% breakdown voltage can be
applied also to other probability
levels e.g. the withstand level:
Ut = Upmc +k . ß (3)
where ß = Ue - Upmc
4.3 Determination of the test
voltage factor
The test voltage factor was
determined from the 50%
breakdown tests results by
means of the formula:
Uref(50) - Upmc(50)
k = ----------------------
Ue(50) - Upmc(50)
The test voltage factor k has
also been analysed for with-
stand voltages (breakdown
probability about 10%) and the
results show a constant test
voltage factor k50%  k10%  k.
The empirical test voltage
factors k have been calculated
using double exponential
functions as mean curves.
The relation between the test
voltage factor and oscillation
frequency is not the same for
all dielectrics. The regression
line shown in Fig. 3 is the best
fit for all of the measured
values and represent the
average value for the different
dielectrics tested.
k 1
0,8
0,6
0,4
0,2
0
10 100 f (kHz) 1000
Figure 3. Test voltage factor k as
function of the frequency.
The maximum difference
between the test voltage factor
of the average curve and the
test voltage factor for any of the
dielectrics is not higher than
0.3, which means that the
influence on the test voltage is
relatively small (±3%) even for
overvoltages with ß up to 10%.
If greater accuracy is needed, or
if ß is more than 10%, then the
actual test voltage factor for the
dielectric can be used.
For values of f1= 0.3 MHz and
f2= 1.6 MHz, the voltage factor
ELECTRA PAPER
7-th of February 2002
k for the dielectrics tested can
be described by the following
equations:
(4)
- k= 1 when f  f1
- k  log f 2  log f (5)
log f 2  log f1
when f1 < f < f2
- k = 0 when f  f2
The evaluation criteria in the
present standard 2 for
impulses with oscillations or
overshoot can also be expressed
using the test voltage factor
which changes from 1 to 0 at a
frequency of 0.5 MHz, as
shown by the dotted line in Fig.
4.
k
1 a)
b)
f(MHz)
0
0,3 0,5 1,6
Figure 4. Test voltage factor k
a) Current IEC 60060-1
b) New Proposal
10000
5. Implementation
and examples
The evaluation method
discussed in this paper is
suitable for both manual and
software analysis. It improves
the reproducibility of test
results particularly as the value
of the test voltage is more
directly related to the physical
stress of the dielectric. The new
proposal has been used to
evaluate the TDG examples in
the standard IEC 61083-2 4.
5.1. Determination of the
extreme value Ue
The extreme value of a
Page 4 of 6
 ELECTRA PAPER

measured waveform Ue is of the extreme value. In the Ut = Ue - (1-k) . ß (6)

regarded as the 100% reference third and fourth columns of
value for time parameters Table II the peak values of the The calculated values of test
evaluation and it can be double exponential mean voltage according to the two
evaluated manually or by curves and corresponding procedures are given in
automatic algorithm. Any overvoltages are given. columns seven and eight of
superimposed noise should be Table II.
removed either manually or 5.3 Determination of the
better by using a moving frequency/overshoot 5.5 Alternative calculation of
window filter or a better FIR duration test voltage
filter [8]. The second column of
Table II shows the extreme The frequency can be Taking into account that if a
values for five full lightning determined manually as the short smooth lightning impulse
impulses of the Test Data time difference between two (T1=0.84s) is filtered by
Generators given in the consectutive oscillation peaks means of the function of the
standard IEC 61083-2 4. on the crest of the impulse test voltage factor k, its peak
waveform. Alternatively the value would change less than
5.2 Determination of the frequency can be evaluated by 0,1%, equation (3) could be
overvoltage ß applying DFT or FFT software transformed into the following:
to the difference between the
The most accurate way to recorded waveform and the Ut  k .( Upmc + ß ) (7)
determine the overvoltage ß double exponential mean curve.
requires the calculation of the Therefore, the test voltage Ut
previous mean curve using In order to determine the can be determined applying this
model-based curve fitting 10. overshoot it is necessary to find filter to the recorded impulse
The mean curve should follow the points of intersection and then the test voltage Ut is
a double exponential model between the recorded impulse given by the extreme value Ue
because the empirical test and the double exponential of the filtered curve.
voltage factor k has been mean curve, and special care
obtained from a double must be taken. The fifth column Ut = Ue(filtered curve)
exponential function. The of Table II shows the calculated
double exponential function frequency or overshoot When a filter is applied the
should allow fitting around the duration for each TDG value of the overvoltage ß is
crest, from a fixed amplitude waveform 4. unknown. Therefore the equi-
(e.g. 50%) in the front to a few valent requirement of ß 10%
microseconds after the extreme 5.4 Calculation of the test of Ue is limiting the difference
value. voltage between Ue and Ut as shown in
Fig.5.
In accordance with the Using the equations (5) the test
application of results the voltage factor k was determined
maximum permitted over- from the equation:
voltage ß should be about 10%
Table II Test voltage of the TDG cases of the IEC 61083-2
Case Ue Upmc  f k Ut Ut' (kV)
(kV) (kV) (kV) (MHz) (kV) IEC 61083-2
4/9 + 1024 + 975 + 49 0.66 0.53 + 1001 + 975
3/8 + 1050 + 993 + 57 0.37 0.88 + 1043 +1050
13 - 1072 - 957 - 115 0.39 0.84 - 1054 - 1070
14 - 1071 - 960 - 111 0.59 0.60 - 1027 - 960
Case (Uextr/Upmc' ) Upmc (1 / 2) (f1 / d2) (k1 / k2) Ut Ut' (kV)
(kV) (kV) (kV) MHz / s (kV) IEC 61083-2
11 960 / 954 950 10 / 4 3,7 / 1 0 / 0.69 953 950
Note: Case no 11 has oscillations superimposed on an overshoot; therefore the determination of two k- factors can be applied:
one for oscillations (k1) and the other for the overshoot (k2). The Upmc' is the peak value of the mean curve that removes
only the oscillations but not the overshoot.

Page 5 of 6

Ue – Ut
0,1 Ue
f1 f2
Figure 5. Voltage difference between
Ue and Ut as function of the filter
characteristic
In many cases an easy way to
obtain good approximations is
to use the single exponential
function that fits the tail of the
impulse 11.
7. Conclusions
Recent research has studied the
physical behaviour of air, oil,
oil-paper, SF6 and XPLE
dielectrics subjected to impulse
voltages having superimposed
oscillations or overshoot.
The results show that no
difference exists in the break-
down behaviour for overshoot
or oscillations superimposed on
a smooth lightning impulse.
The influence of the
superimposed oscillation
depends on the frequency and
the proposed frequency depen-
dent test voltage factor k allows
a reproducible evaluation of the
test voltage.
The test voltage evaluation can
be done automatically as well
as manually and the test voltage
represents the stress in the
dielectric more closely.
The proposed method can
improve the evaluation
procedures in the relevant IEC
View publication stats
standards and should betaken
into account during the next
revision.
Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank Mr.
Robert Hughes for his valuable
editorial comments and writing
help. In addition we would like
to thank the European
Community for the financial
support.
References
1 IEC 60071-1 "Insulation
co-ordination. Part-1:
Definitions, principles and
rules", 1993
2 IEC 60060-1 “High voltage
test technique. Part 1:
General Specifications and
Test Requirements” 1989
3 F. Garnacho, M. Aro, K.
Schon and others
“Evaluation Procedures for
lightning impulse
parameters in case of
waveform with oscillations
and/or an overshoot”,
Trans. on IEEE Power
Delivery, Vol. 12, No. 2,
1997, p. 640 - 649
4 IEC 61083-2 "Digital
recorders for measure-
ments in high-voltage
impulse test. Part 2:
Evaluation of software
used for the determination
of the parameters of
impulse waveforms”, 1991
5 S.M. Berlijn, F. Garnacho,
P. Simón, E. Gockenbach,
P. Werle, K. Hackemack,
M. Watts, “Final report,
digital measurement of
parameters used for
ELECTRA PAPER
lightning impulse tests for
high voltage equipment”,
Contract nº PL-951210-
SMT-CT96-2132, 17 Sept.-
1999
6 F. Garnacho, P. Simón.
"Software for the
evaluation of the lightning
impulse parameters". 1-st
Workshop on Insulation
Co-ordination, Madrid,
November 1999
7 IEC 60060-2 “High-voltage
test techniques. Part 2:
Measuring systems”, 1994
8 S. Berlijn, F. Garnacho,
E. Gockenbach, M. Muhr,
K. Hackemack, M. Kvarn-
gren, P. Simón, P. Werle
“Influence of Different
Lightning Impulse Shapes
on the breakdown
behaviour of insulating
materials” Proposal of
Modification of IEC
60060-1, ISH 2001
9 Yi Li, J. Rungis “Precision
digital filter for high
voltage impulse
measurements systems"
IEEE Trans. on Power
Delivery, Vol. 14, No. 4,
1999, p. 1213-1220
10 T.R. McComb “Calculating
the parameters of full
lightning impulse using
model-based curve fitting”
IEEE Trans. on Power
Delivery, Vol. 6, No. 4,
1991, p. 1386-1394
11 E. Gockenbach,
K. Hackemack, P. Werle,
“A contribution to the
evaluation of lightning
impulse with oscillations or
overshoot near the peak”,
ISH 2001
Page 6 of 6